How to Check Out a Nanny Placement Agency in BC: Seven Questions Worth Asking
A nanny placement is one of the larger decisions a household makes, and the agency market is not regulated the way you might assume. Seven questions to run against any agency in BC — including this one.
Hiring an agency to find a nanny means handing a stranger a deposit and then a child. The reasonable response is to check them out first, and most families are not sure what to check.
Below are seven questions worth asking any BC placement agency before money moves. Each one comes with what a solid answer sounds like — and then Puffin's own answer, so you can run the checklist against us at the same time. That is the point. A checklist you cannot apply to the company that wrote it is marketing.
1. Is the fee published, or do I have to ask?
Why it matters. A price you can only get by giving up your phone number is a price that can be set after someone has read your postcode. Published pricing is not a courtesy; it is the thing that makes comparison possible at all.
A good answer: the number is on the website, in writing, before any contact.
Puffin's answer: $500 for placements under three months, $1,000 for three months or longer. It is on the placement page and on the rate card, alongside every hourly rate we charge.
2. Is it a flat fee or a percentage of the nanny's salary?
Why it matters. A percentage fee means the agency earns more when your nanny is paid more. That is not automatically wrong, but it is a structural interest in a number you are trying to negotiate.
A good answer: either model, stated clearly, with the basis of calculation spelled out.
Puffin's answer: flat. One fee, one time, no percentage of salary and no ongoing commission. The fee never includes the nanny's wages, which you agree directly with your nanny.
3. What, exactly, is the background check?
Why it matters. "Background checked" is not a defined term. It can mean a national criminal record check, a vulnerable-sector check, an identity verification, a reference call, or a search engine. These are meaningfully different things.
A good answer: a specific, nameable process, with the limits admitted.
Puffin's answer: CRRP vulnerable-sector criminal record screening through BC Justice Ministry channels, plus reference verification and interviews before any candidate is presented. We also say what it does *not* cover — a record check is a point-in-time search of records that exist, not a prediction. That is set out in what CRRP clearance is and how Puffin vets every caregiver, and you are welcome to ask us about any part of it directly.
4. Who employs the nanny once the placement is made?
Why it matters. This decides who runs payroll, who remits CPP and EI, and who carries the employment obligations. It is the single most consequential thing on this list and the one most often left vague.
A good answer: an unambiguous one, given before you pay.
Puffin's answer: you do. A placed nanny becomes your family's employee. Puffin is not their employer, and we would rather say so plainly than let it be assumed. If you would prefer not to be an employer, our hourly caregivers *are* Puffin employees and none of it lands on you — a genuinely different service, and we will tell you which one fits.
5. What happens if it doesn't work out?
Why it matters. Placements fail sometimes, for ordinary reasons. What matters is whether the remedy is written down or improvised.
A good answer: a specific window, a specific remedy, in the terms — not "we'd work something out".
Puffin's answer: one complimentary re-match within 30 days of the start date. A second re-match, or one after that window, is a new placement at the then-current fee. It is in our Terms, which means it is a commitment rather than a hope.
6. Can I see what I am agreeing to before I pay?
Why it matters. Terms produced after a deposit are not terms you agreed to.
A good answer: public terms, a visible price at the moment of payment, and a receipt.
Puffin's answer: the Terms are public and cover the refund test, the re-match, the payroll add-on billing and your obligations as an employer. The $200 deposit is charged by card in the form with the amount on screen first, and every charge produces an emailed record. Nothing is settled in cash — here is why.
7. Is the deposit refundable, and on what test?
Why it matters. "Refundable" with no stated test is not a promise. Watch for the difference between a promise about the agency's effort and a promise about your satisfaction — they are very different sizes, and only one is usually meant.
A good answer: a named window and a test that can actually be applied.
Puffin's answer: the $200 deposit is refunded in full if we do not present suitable candidates within 30 days of your paid inquiry. That is an effort test — something we either did or did not do. Once candidates have been presented it is not refundable, because the search it paid for has been carried out. We chose that wording deliberately over "if we can't place you", which would also cover a family who was shown good candidates and hired none.
What this list is not
It is not a way to identify villains. Plenty of small agencies are staffed by people who are very good at this and have simply never written their process down. A thin website is evidence of a thin website.
What the list does is shift the question from *do I trust this feeling* to *can they answer seven concrete questions*. An agency that can answer all seven — whoever they are — is one you can evaluate properly. An agency that cannot answer any of them is asking you to take everything on faith, and there is no reason a real one should need to.
Common questions
- How do I know if a nanny agency in BC is legitimate?
- Ask for specifics and see whether they exist in writing. A published fee rather than a quote on request; a named background-check process rather than "background checked"; a clear statement of who employs the nanny after placement; public terms covering refunds and re-matches; and a payment step where you see the amount before you pay it. None of those are hard for a real agency to produce. An agency that can answer all five is one you can evaluate on the merits.
- Are nanny placement agencies regulated in British Columbia?
- Employment agency licensing and employment standards in BC are administered by the provincial government, and what applies to a given agency is a question for the Employment Standards Branch rather than for any agency's marketing — worth verifying with them directly rather than taking a company's word for it. What you can check yourself, without an authority, is whether the agency publishes its fee, its terms, its screening process and its remedy when a placement fails.
- Should a nanny agency charge a percentage of my nanny's salary?
- Both flat fees and percentage fees exist and neither is inherently improper — what matters is that the basis is stated before you commit. A percentage does mean the agency's fee rises with the salary you negotiate, which is worth knowing while you negotiate it. Puffin charges a flat one-time fee, $500 under three months or $1,000 for three months or longer, with no percentage and no ongoing commission.
- Is a deposit to a nanny agency normal?
- Yes — a search costs the agency real work before you have a nanny, so a deposit to begin is ordinary. What matters is the size, whether it counts toward the total, and the test for getting it back. Puffin’s is $200, it counts toward the fee rather than adding to it, and it is refunded in full if we do not present suitable candidates within 30 days of your paid inquiry.
- What's the difference between a nanny agency and a nanny marketplace?
- A marketplace gives you listings and leaves the vetting, the interviewing, the reference checks and the employment paperwork with you. An agency does the search and screening and presents a shortlist. Both are legitimate and they suit different families — there is a full comparison in our guide to nanny agencies vs. marketplaces. Note that with either one, a nanny you hire directly is your employee.
Book premium care across the Lower Mainland
CRRP cleared. Fully insured. Available in Surrey, Vancouver, Abbotsford, and 13 more cities.
Explore Services & Book →